Nice hike up the Cedar Springs Trail, along the Desert Divide, then down the ridge to Cone. I hiked this the day after the first snow of the season and the snow and ice on the summit block made it a little sketchy, but I made it to the top. High for the day was 31 so it was pretty chilly, especially for early November! I found this to be one of the better peaks on the HPS list.

First chilly then pleasant bushwhack to tag this summit from PCT. The HPS route description is vaguely correct. Starting point is correct, but there is no 10'-12' wide horse trail that I could find. Bomb down the grassy slope on the east side of the ridge until you reach the trees. Head west through the trees following the path of least resistance, staying above a prominent rocky nose. Cross over the ridge above the 'nose' and then start proceeding south along it (some bushwhacking will still be required from 6900'-6800'). You will eventually reach a pretty well-defined/ducked use trail. The use trail be-bops up and down the west side the ridge several times, through the main saddle, and back up to the summit. All this provides enough scrambling to keep it interesting. I would call the summit block class 3 due to some mild exposure. Views of Garner Valley are quite stunning.

Some snow along the use trail made following the route back easier. Tagged the uneventful Palm View Peak because it was so close.

3 day HPS sweep with Bob Burd. Peak #6 of 18 -- after a warm-up on Asbestos Mtn first thing on morning #2. We fought through brush to gain an alternate route (Hot Patch Spring) to the ridge south of Cone. Poorly placed ducks led us to the top. Normally I wouldn't recommend this route but we didn't find the normal route much better. It did make for a nice loop of Desert Divide South.

My quest to hit all Desert Divide peaks continues....only 2 more to go! Interesting trek to Cone Peak, would be more fun with less wind and ice though. :P We opted for the "Private Property" descent and managed to not get a buttfull of buckshot.